Rajputs in medieval age - battles and discussions

[armyofhind]

Very poor knowledge of History.


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I remember reading In a book that Roman Legions were defeated by Rajputs but I cannot recall ztge name of the Battle.
Any idea?

 

[Tarun Kumar]

Roman legions never attacked India. It was too far. Historically Roman legions were only defeated twice- In cannae by hannibal of carthage which led to drastic reorganization in army and enabled romans to wipe carthage from face of the earth in their counterattack. The second by Germans and Romans never counterattacked as Germany was deemed too cold to hold as a garrison. The Roman soldier was never famous for valour but tactically romans adopted simple but very effective tricks. Infact our current conflict with Pakistan and Islam can be assessed in light of the tactics which Rome adopted when facing challenge from Carthage. These were:

a) Focus on effective body armour (Today it is bullet proof jacket) . Romans had the best body armour of their time
b) Change from defensive to offensive tactic. Romans realized that a small force on offense is much more effective than large force on defensive
c) Utilizing proxies to weaken their adversaries before going to war
d) Out of turn promotions for soldiers and generals who showed leadership in war. Romans were never sticklers for hierarchies in war
e) Finally Romans believed in quick adoption of weapons technology through reverse engineering followed by improvization instead of waiting for ideal weapon.
f) Showing absolutely no mercy to their enemies-civilians and soldiers alike

Contrast this with our philosophy which gave emphasis on peaceful negotiation, forgiving enemies, preferring defence over offence. We were never short of valour but lost out always on tactics and leadership.

 

[Bornubus]

I remember reading In a book that Roman Legions were defeated by Rajputs but I cannot recall ztge name of the Battle.
Any idea?

Deadliest warrior - Episode Rajput vs Roman


Historically, by the time Rajput rose to Prominence as distinctive identity within Kshatriya varna Roman Empire was declining.


In any case India never had any dispute but profitable trade and cultural relations with Romans. The trade was in our favor.

There was a contingent of Roman troops permanently stationed in South India (Muziris port ) for safeguarding their Indian trade interest.

 

[India22]

Time for you to hit the history books ...

I actually know History. Do you know Indians were not familiar with the use of naptha? We did not have crossbows? Catapults? Our average soldier was lightly armed? We did not even have armoured horsemen? mounted archers except Gupta Period?

We were always behind of West, Persia and China. Persia's Achaemenid Empire could capture NW India but they could not subdue ancient Greek city states, Chinese had thousands of cavalry when we at best had 30,000. We neither had access to good horse nor a centralized state.

 

[Bornubus]

Are bhai Game ki Ai Battle Ki Baat Kar Raha Hai Kya

Deadliest warrior hypothetical warfare program hai

YT pe search karke dekh le.

 

[Bornubus]

We did not have crossbows? Catapults? Our average soldier was lightly armed? We did not even have armoured horsemen? mounted archers except Gupta Period?

Again, very foolish post full of ignorance about Indian military history.

 

[India22]

Again, very foolish post full of ignorance about Indian military history.

Not foolish. Care to explain why foolish?

 

[Bornubus]

Not foolish. Care to explain why foolish?

Ever heard of term "Mahashilakantak"



I will come to the rest of your post later.

 

[India22]

Ever heard of term "Mahashilakantak"



I will come to the rest of your post later.

Yes I know and they were not used en mass like Western or Chinese army.

 

[Bornubus]

Yes I know and they were not used en mass like Western or Chinese army.

I bet you don't understand the term.


But anyway, first you claim that India never had Catapults and other war machines but as soon i tried debunking your claim now you claim that it wasn't used en mass.


Make up your mind.

 

[India22]

I bet you don't understand the term.


But anyway, first you claim that India never had Catapults and other war machines but as soon i tried debunking your claim now you claim that it wasn't used en mass.


Make up your mind.

Do you have any information that they were used in other wars except the war with Lichchavi? You dont have. Why not comparing total distance ever crossed by Indian armies? Han Dynasty soldiers were ruling Sinkiang and North Indian Empires could not even rule South India. Decentralized nature of Indian states did not allow kings to equip armies.

 

[armyofhind]

Crossbows had no utility in the Indian context. They are bulky weapons with a slow reload time and limited range.
The primary reason for the invention of the crossbow was that it required no training to use so peasants and militia could use them easily.

This was never a problem in India where kings could have a large trained warrior caste at their command.

The longbow was invented fairly early in India and then the recurve bow came as well. There was no need for a crossbow for warfare.
That apart, it has been used historically by indian tribals for hunting.

 

[Bornubus]

Do you have any information that they were used in other wars except the war with Lichchavi? You dont have. Why not comparing total distance ever crossed by Indian armies? Han Dynasty soldiers were ruling Sinkiang and North Indian Empires could not even rule South India. Decentralized nature of Indian states did not allow kings to equip armies.

It has more to do with warfare philosophy and resources rather than lack of scientific capability which is relevant even in modern warfare. Take soviets and NATO as an example.


Marathas were successful because their strength is Light cavalry charge and deadly ambushes. They could've easily equip their cavalry with heavy armor but they prefer light cavalry because their warfare was based on ambushes and swift Raids into enemy territories.


This is totally different from Rajputs who relied on heavily armored cavalrymen and even Horse archers and war elephant.

 

[India22]

English had longbows too. They went for Crossbow. Chinese too had longbow and they went for crossbow. Other armies had professional soldiers too. They used crossbow.

 

[armyofhind]

India was the first to use war elephants and you forgot about Chandra Gupta 100000 Cavalry Units Which were fantastic for that a time being and incase you do not know India had the best bow and arrow at that time Maury an empire didi many inventions And about Ancient India Aryabhatta invention of 0 Trigonometry Geometry Invention Of Medicine Invention Of operation, surgery western toilets were invented in India Invention Of grenade type weapon India

Dont feed the self hating troll bro.
Cant argue with his outlandish "logic" .

 

[India22]

It has more to do with warfare philosophy and resources rather than lack of scientific capability which is relevant even in modern warfare. Take soviets and NATO as an example.


Marathas were successful because their strength is Light cavalry charge and deadly ambushes. They could've easily equip their cavalry with heavy armor but they prefer light cavalry because their warfare was based on ambushes and swift Raids into enemy territories.


This is totally different from Rajputs who relied on heavily armored cavalrymen and even Horse archers and war elephant.

They could not have. Maratha Empire did not have a solid economic base. Most soldiers were irregular. Agree with other parts that it was to do with philosophy. Additionally they did not have good quality horse. Army was not united.

 

[armyofhind]

English had longbows too. They went for Crossbow. Chinese too had longbow and they went for crossbow. Other armies had professional soldiers too. They used crossbow.

English went for crossbow only when they started having a dearth of trained archers during the hundred years war with france. They actually adopted a mix of archers. Crossbows for defence and longbows for offence.
Chinese had the recurve bow, not the longbow. And they used crossbows purely in a defensive situation.

Mongols had bows too. Have you ever heard an account of them using crossbows for the kind of mobile and offensive warfare they preferred?
Quit trolling just for the heck of it.

 

[India22]

India was the first to use war elephants and you forgot about Chandra Gupta 100000 Cavalry Units Which were fantastic for that a time being and incase you do not know India had the best bow and arrow at that time Maury an empire didi many inventions And about Ancient India Aryabhatta invention of 0 Trigonometry Geometry Invention Of Medicine Invention Of operation, surgery western toilets were invented in India Invention Of grenade type weapon India

Which Chandragupta are you talking about? I certainly know Indian bows and arrows and also know Indian archery was superior. Except archery in other cases Indians were weak.

 

[India22]

English went for crossbow only when they started having a dearth of trained archers during the hundred years war with france. They actually adopted a mix of archers. Crossbows for defence and longbows for offence.

Yeah that's why crossbow was better. You could train many men easily.

Chinese had the recurve bow, not the longbow. And they used crossbows purely in a defensive situation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_archery#Longbows_.28self_bows.29

For your info recurve bows were of short range.

Mongols had bows too. Have you ever heard an account of them using crossbows for the kind of mobile and offensive warfare they preferred?
Quit trolling just for the heck of it.

Did Indians have mobile warfare? I am not trolling I actually read multiple books.

 

[Bornubus]

They could not have. Maratha Empire did not have a solid economic base. Most soldiers were irregular. Agree with other parts that it was to do with philosophy. Additionally they did not have good quality horse. Army was not united.

Laughable.


The army which ruled most of the Indian subcontinent as far as Peshawar (for some time) did it without any Economic base ?

Even though later Mughal "emperor" was their puppet and pensioner.